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State Of Counterstealth Technology On Display At Airshow China

This is the fourth article in a series. Even as the Shenyang J-20 fighter performed its first public display above November’s Airshow China in Zhuhai, the tall arrays of low-frequency air surveillance radars standing over the crowds were evidence of Beijing’s efforts not only to match but to counter the U.S. advantage in stealth.
Towering over the flight line at Zhuhai were three air-defense radars from China Electronics Technology Group Corp. (CETC) and its Nanjing Research ...

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Discuss this Article 13

Please tell me again why the air arms of the United States are going to place the entirety of their tactical attack assets in the F-35. A machine whose stealth is already compromised and which can neither turn with 4th generation fighters nor fly as fast or as far.

That's a good question, and you are not going to get an answer because all this is on the surface or visible. There are big ticket items nobody is going to talk about in the black. These radars cannot see through ground clutter, and there are research studies about invisibility cloaks that suggest a muffled low flying aircraft cannot be seen or detected, and that is just one possibility.

I wouldn't say the F35 is compromised at all. All stealth does is reduce the detectable range. The F35 would still be able to confortably get within range of targets to launch weapons. And low frequency radars cannot be used to generate a firing solution anyhow, only indicate an area.
Also, the F35 can carry more stores for longer than the teen series fighters so what's the issue?

There is general agreement among the experts that VHF radar can pick up stealthy targets at long ranges depending on their radar cross sections (RCS). The specification of one of the radars shows a detection range based on an RCS of 1 square meter. The B-2 promo says that it has an RCS about the size of a small bird so that would make it less, but still detectable. Also any object moving thru the air generates heat so that infra red(IR) detectors can pick these stealthy targets at close ranges. Stealth does not have any advantage in daylight as optical sights with IR range detection will work.
Proponents of the F-35 now say that the main reason that the F-35
is so great is because of its electronic suite that can pick up multiple targets and use these features to control a battlefield situation.
Of course the Gatling cannon used for close air support still doesn't work!

Although VHF counter stealth radars generally cannot guide SAMs (yet,) they don't need to. There is a missile NEZ even against "stealth" aircraft, and properly placed mobile missile launchers can engage stealth aircraft. VHF "early warning" radars can direct interceptors. Then there is optical and IR tracking that can assist (depending on wx,) as well as acoustic detection. The key is integrating / networks all the systems - and one reason why wideband EA aircraft are an important part of a strike package.

The reason missiles cannot be guided by LF radar is simple physics. The aerial has to be roughly the length of the signal wave. Which for LF radar is far too big for any missile. That won't change. Stealth doesn't make aircraft invulnerable, but it does multiply the defender's problems and will continue to do so. Whether it's the most cost effective solution is another question entirely.

Contrary to white supremacist doctrine Asians are quite intelligent. No attempt to revoke the laws of physics outside the USA have succeeded.

The only issue is if the radar is capable of enough resolution to deliver a missile with infrared homing close enough to detect and tract the F-35 infrared emitter. Even active X-band radar guided missiles might work dropping upon the top of an F-35 if it switches on close enough.

Long baseline interferometry can provide even a VHF radar the equivalent of a antenna several (or more) miles wide.

The unfortunate ability of a simple Yagi antenna hooked to a visual display VHF receiver with a distant VHF emitter to function as a bistatic radar in the detection of passing aircraft wrecked my viewing pleasure many times.

I have to disagree with the comment that low frequency radars cannot see through ground clutter. Many years ago I worked with the USAF FPS 24 (worked in the 200 megacycle band) in an ECM and non ECM environment for several years and it was the cleanest radar out there and very difficult to jam. It was also very good at detecting low level aircraft. The biggest problem was keeping bearings in the 180 foot wide antenna!

I should also mention that the FPS 24 had no problem detecting the SR-71, perhaps the first stealth aircraft, out to 200 NM on skin paint. And this was in a real world day to day working environment! Other radars that operated in different frequency bands had difficulty detecting skin paint on the SR-71

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